State games moved> Championships set for Saturday

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Waiting until Saturday to play the Class A state championship game, especially after having already waited four extra days, isn’t the most attractive scenario for coach Terry Parlin and the Messalonskee High softball team.

The Eagles and two neighboring Eastern Maine title teams intend to make the best of the situation.

Weather permitting, the Eagles plan to gather Thursday in Madison with the Class C champion Bulldogs and Class B winner Winslow for a round-robin scrimmage.

“We’re hoping to all three meet at Madison and get three or four innings against each other,” said Parlin, who wants to keep his team sharp. “Mentally, they’re kind of out of it right now. Hopefully, scrimmaging will help.”

Coaches spent Monday making alternate plans for the week after the Maine Principals’ Association decided to postpone the state championship baseball and softball games until Saturday.

Jim Miller of Auburn, the chairman of the MPA Baseball-Softball Committee, made the call Monday after talking with MPA Assistant Director Larry LaBrie and officials at the state game sites in Bangor, Brewer and Standish.

All contests will be played Saturday, at the same sites, at the originally scheduled times.

While the facilities were draining well Monday, groundskeepers at Mansfield Stadium in Bangor and Ward Field in Standish told the MPA Thursday was the earliest the fields would be in top shape.

“It was simply the conditions of the fields and getting them ready,” Miller said. “The bottom line was that both sites in Bangor and St. Joe’s said the best they could do would be Thursday. That was if there wasn’t any more rain.”

Rather than keep players, coaches, and fans guessing when the games would be played, Miller opted to end the suspense.

“The people I spoke with were very pleased they didn’t have to wait day to day,” Miller said. “They were pleased that they could plan.”

The decision should make life easier for student-athletes, parents and fans. Most schools are still in session this week and many are holding final exams. Playing Saturday will allow players to concentrate on their studies.

Now, the majority of parents and fans who want to attend Saturday’s games won’t have to play hooky from work or miss the games entirely, as might have been the case for a weekday game.

Parlin acknowledged the 10-day delay likely will hamper teams as many seniors have graduated and started summer jobs, while underclassmen are immersed in finals.

“We’re all in the same boat but, hey, there’s nothing you can do about the weather,” Parlin said. “It causes a lot of problems.”

Messalonskee was fortunate in that it was able to practice Monday on its own field, but the students’ focus has been on schoolwork.

“They’ve been thinking about classes instead of softball,” Parlin said. “We really needed to play as soon after [the Eastern Maine title game] as possible. We were playing the best ball of the season.

“The key will be whoever can get their team back up and ready to play again,” Parlin added.

Washington Academy baseball coach Buddy Wood isn’t sure how many guys he’ll get for practice, if the weather allows. His seven seniors have graduated and are off on a white-water rafting trip, while other team members have begun playing summer basketball in Bangor.

“It’s kind of impossible to get everybody going in the same direction. Even the fans are in the doldrums,” Wood said. “We’re anxious to play, but I don’t know if we’re going to play very well.

“All we can do is sit back and hope to get some practice time in,” he said.

Wood is worried an upcoming fishing trip might be in jeopardy.

“The big trip to Quebec’s August 9th, so if we could get [the championship game] in by then, that would be nice,” quipped Wood.

Searsport senior softball player Jenn Mace would rather not have to wait for Saturday to arrive. She even passed up Monday’s senior class white water rafting trip on the Kennebec River to attend practice and stay safe.

“The main reason I stayed back was because I didn’t want to put myself in jeopardy of not being able to play in the game,” Mace said. “What are the chances, but what if I had broken my leg?”

Mace, whose team lost a 1-0 heartbreaker to Madison in last year’s state game, doesn’t mind the wait for a chance at redemption in Saturday’s rematch.

“This year, I want to win it,” she said.

Despite the rescheduling of the state title games, the Maine Senior Baseball Classic will be played, as scheduled, at 7 p.m. Friday at Mahaney Diamond in Orono.

The timing of the senior all-star contest, which pits Eastern Maine vs. Western Maine, may cause problems for Dave Dostie of Cony High in Augusta, James Dawson and John Melanson of Portland, and Gorham’s Paul Nicely, all of whom have title games Saturday.